


made a statue of us

by icedmachinery, icemachine



Category: Doom Patrol (TV)
Genre: M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Other, Polyamory, but keeg and larry are just friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:34:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27833083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icedmachinery/pseuds/icedmachinery, https://archiveofourown.org/users/icemachine/pseuds/icemachine
Summary: A series of drabbles exploring the relationships between Tyme, Larry, Keeg, Cliff, and Flex.
Relationships: Cliff Steele/Larry Trainor, Keeg Bovo/Flex Mentallo, Keeg Bovo/Jonathan Tyme, Larry Trainor/Jonathan Tyme/Cliff Steele/Flex Mentallo/Keeg Bovo, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Kudos: 2





	1. keeg/tyme (i)

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to the most self indulgent fic ever. all of these drabbles will connect eventually, and most dynamics will be explored more than once. hope i can convert you to OT5 Hell.

The very second Larry's eyes meet Jonathan Tyme's muscles, he's enchanted. So of course Keeg has to go and fuck him.

It doesn’t happen on purpose. They carry Larry’s unconscious body through the portal, terrified of leaving him behind, the horror in their mind being  _ what would happen if they— _

It’s an experiment, at first, truly. Tyme resides in a different dimension, pocketed away from the rest of the universe; they want to know if this is a world that will hear them, a dimension in which they can speak, to finally be vocal --  _ to howl,  _ to let their thoughts be known, drawn in the breath of the air.

They want to talk to Larry. It’s their decision, now, if he is rendered unconscious when they leave. It was required this time, but—

“You’re not supposed to be here, are you?”

The words reign dark, hollow, but Tyme’s hand is reaching for Keeg’s palm, and fuck, this guy really  _ is  _ enchanting. They have felt this way exactly once, and it was back in the —

Flex. It was Flex. 

This isn’t like Flex, though.

This is primal, animalistic -- a bouquet of concepts and desires that Keeg did not previously consider themselves capable of. Can they even —

Anyway, this is their moment, this is culmination of The Experiment; they can think about  _ craving  _ later.

“Probably not,” they say, low-soft. They’re still holding Larry, but their grip on him falters with every moment, weakens with Tyme’s insistence. 

He doesn’t respond. This was a bad idea. He can’t hear them, and now both Keeg and Larry are probably in danger. Keeg really is the monarch of Really Fucking Horrible Ideas. Example: crashing Larry’s bus. Example #2: putting Larry on a ceiling rafter. Those were both hilarious, but not very helpful in creating peace. They need to—

“How’d you get here, then? Seen a lot of things, but nothing quite like you, baby.”

Oh. He can  _ hear them.  _ If Keeg had anything -- any organ system to fail, any human aspect of them beyond form,  _ any hope --  _ they would be fluttering. They are fluttering. It’s sick.

“I can open doors to other dimensions,” they explain. “Just not my own, apparently.”

“You’re from another dimension?” he asks. “Sick. And you’re Larry’s friend, I take it?”

_ Friend.  _ Keeg thinks back to Larry’s speech; he told John that they were  _ special,  _ that they weren’t friends but there was a connection between them, an inextricable soul bond. Are they friends now? Are they? Can they ever reach that holy status of ascension?

“Not exactly,” Keeg decides. “I don’t know.”

“You two, uh—”

“ _ No. _ ”

“Alright then,” he says. He’s empathetic enough to realize that Keeg doesn’t want to talk about it. “Wanna dance?”

“That’s it?” Keeg asks. “You’re not angry?”

“Why would I be angry?”

“Well—”

“It’s not every day you meet an alien,” says Tyme, and Keeg  _ swears  _ that they can see the clock hands above his eyes rise and fall like a tide. “And the others I’ve met certainly weren’t as gnarly as you.”

“Thank you. I think.”

“You know it,” he says, and then, in a darker tone that radiates through the room: “So put him down and dance with me.”

Keeg obeys, placing Larry on the floor -- so gentle, so calm. They’re learning to be gentle now.


	2. cliff/larry (i)

Cliff knocks on Larry’s door like they’re something that can be labeled, like either of them can put a name to what they are. They’ve been doing this dance since ‘98, when Cliff mentioned an ex and how Cliff kept  _ their tie  _ until Kate questioned its source, but when Larry confirmed what Cliff had eternally suspected during their fucked up group therapy session—

  
  


“Safe?” he asks.

“You won’t die if you come in,” Larry calls back; he’s on his bed, had been trying to embrace sleep,  _ but the thought of Cliff— _ , “if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Okay, cool.”

Of course Larry doesn’t - feel the same way. He is 99.9% sure that Larry does not feel the same way; he is not attractive, he cannot give Larry what he needs, yet Cliff desires anyway, yearns regardless of substance. Sometimes Larry will gaze at him and look away when their “eyes” meet — sometimes Larry will act in a way that sparks hope — but it’s useless. Who could ever love Cliff now? Even before—-

“What do you want?”

If Cliff possessed anything beyond a brain---if he had a  _ heart  _ or  _ stomach  _ to sink to or ache or flutter—

But he doesn’t. Cliff has a brain -- is  _ only  _ a brain — but he’s not even smart enough to perceive Larry’s emotions correctly.

He’s about to do something either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Either way it’s going to ruin him.

“I, uh…” Cliff presses the door open. “I have something for you.”


	3. keeg/flex (i)

Anyone who knows Flex Mentallo knows that his heart is his most valiant muscle, the one aspect of his body that is  _ always  _ in line,  _ always  _ working to its greatest extent, and he doesn’t even have to focus on anything to make it work; Flex’s love runs deep, oceanwide, endless. Dolores—-

Dolores had been fine with it. She had admired his capacity to love, and even had other relationships of her own on occasion. But she’s—

Anyway. The connection to Keeg had been instant; he knows a good soul when he sees one, and his empathy for them had been unbearable. No one —  _ no one —  _ deserves to suffer in the way that Keeg suffered. 

He hasn’t spoken to them since his memories flooded back in, but they’re  _ here — _ they are  _ always  _ here. Inside of his heart and the mist of his mind. They are also floating in front of him, now, silent, the intimacy hanging in the air like a question.

Now—

“Hey,” he says, because he cannot sense Keeg’s emotions this time, cannot parse how they feel. It’s been - so long. “That was really brave, you know. Going back for him like that when you did.”

Keeg moves closer to him. The guest room in the manor — he’s no longer alone. Keeg’s presence is filling. 

“I may miss home,” they say, “but I couldn’t let Larry die. He is my purpose.”

“That’s very kind of you.” A pause, consideration. “Why are you here, Keeg? Is Larry—”

“Larry is asleep. He’s fine.”

“Then—”

“I never got to tell you this,” Keeg says, and as if  _ they  _ can sense his emotions, they reach out and place a sparking hand on his shoulder, surprisingly - and unsurprisingly - soft, “but I didn’t blame you. I was never angry that you refused to help us. I was angry that we had to suffer in the way we did. I was angry that they hurt Dolores, because she didn’t do anything except love you. Like I — well. I was never angry at  _ you.  _ I wanted you to know that.”

A nod, and Keeg turns to float away, to leave him—

“Wait,” Flex says. “Stay. If you can, please… stay for a few minutes.”

“I can do that.”

They both sit on the bed. It’s nearly  _ awkward,  _ for a moment. He doesn’t know what he planned on doing with them — he just wanted them to stay, to be here. To provide comfort, like they always do. They are both safe now. They are  _ both  _ loved. And he—

“Flex,” says Keeg, sudden and loud and booming. “I care about him very much.”

“I know.”

“I have since we merged. I genuinely hope that I’m not making a mistake when I say that my affection for Larry is not similar to the affection I feel for you.”

“I don’t understand…”

“While my purpose is now to protect Larry, my feelings toward him are… complicated. But I  _ know  _ how I feel about you, and I don’t want to break contact for sixty years again before I can tell you that… I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Not even in the Negative Space. I wasn’t sure that I ever would understand human romance in the way that Larry felt it towards his old lover and the way he feels now toward Cliff. My kind generally feel emotions at a higher intensity than any other species can comprehend, so if this makes you uncomfortable, please let me know, but—”

“I never believed in love at first sight,” Flex explains, interrupting them. “Even with Dolores, it took a while for us to fall in love. I helped her transition, uh, with my… powers, and she helped me accept myself too. I loved her a lot. But with you… I just felt drawn to you. From the very moment we met. When you talked to me through that opening, all those years ago, I—”

“And I’m scared,” Keeg says, again sudden. “Every time I try to love someone, it backfires and I just end up hurting them instead. I’m impulsive. I do things without thinking, and Larry despised me for several decades because of it, but no one can ever understand what it’s like to live inside him.”

“I can’t ever imagine you hurting me. I mean it.” Flex holds out his hand, tenderness. Keeg grasps it — holds him closer,  _ closer— _

until they’re hugging, until Keeg’s embrace turns his entire body into the wing of a hummingbird, divine. 

“Thank you,” Keeg says. “I know I can’t, but… I want to be here forever.”


End file.
